be said only that careful and intelligent pruning are required to keep
any dwarf apple tree to its work. The more complicated and the more
restricted the form of the tree, the more careful and continuous must be
this pruning. The general system may be outlined in comparatively few
words, and may be explained in its simplest form as applied to the
treatment of a horizontal cordon. Each horizontal cordon, perfectly
formed and full grown, should have fruit spurs throughout its horizontal
length, which may be from three to fifteen feet. The upright portion of
the trunk, from the point where the graft is set to the angle made by
the bending down of the stem, should be kept clean and bare. Constant
care is required to remove the sprouts from this portion of the tree,
especially such as come up from the stock. At the further end of the
horizontal portion there should be one, two, or three strong shoots
allowed to push forth each year. These may be called leaders. They
represent the principal wood growth in each tree. They draw up the sap
from the roots, their leaves elaborate this sap, and from them the
digested material is sent back for the support of the tree and the
ripening of the fruit. They are allowed to take an upright or nearly
upright position and their growth is encouraged. On all other portions
of the tree growth is sternly restricted, when not altogether repressed.
There is a constant tendency for strong shoots to start into growth all
along the horizontal part of the stem and especially near the bend. If
any of these shoots are allowed to make headway, the form of the tree
is spoiled. Even if they are cut out after a year's growth, thus
retaining somewhat the form of the tree, the fruit spurs are thereby
lost. It is the business of the fruit grower, therefore, to pinch back
these shoots which start along the horizontal stem, and this pinching is
done at a comparatively early stage of their growth. Usually the first
pinching should be given when the stems have grown long enough so as to
have seven or eight leaves. These shoots are then cut or pinched back to
three leaves. If the tree is in good vigorous condition, these shoots
will soon start into growth once more. Again they have to be pinched.
This time the pinching comes a little earlier, taking the shoot when it
reaches only about five leaves and the pinching is still more severe.
The shoots may start into growth a third time or even a fourth time, but
each time they are pinched back sooner and more severely than before. In
most cases two or three pinchings will suffice. These constant
repressions of growth tend to secure the formation of fruit spurs and
fruit buds along the horizontal trunk of the tree.
Some slight modifications of the plan here outlined will develop
themselves in experience. In particular it will be found that different
varieties require slightly different handling. Some form fruit spurs
more readily than others. With certain varieties it is very difficult to
repress the rampant habit of growth and to secure a proper formation of
fruit buds. These differences, however, are of minor importance as
compared with the general management of the tree.
The system just outlined has in view the summer pruning of the
horizontal cordon apple. The upright cordon is pruned in almost exactly
the same manner. Various forms of espaliers are handled in much the same
way. Strong shoots or leaders are allowed to grow at the ends of the
main branches to keep up a proper circulation and elaboration of sap,
while the growth of fruit spurs is encouraged along the sides of the
stems by frequent and regular pruning.
In a somewhat less precise manner the same system of pruning can be
applied to bush and pyramid forms. Each bush, for instance, is made up
of a certain number of fruiting branches. The fruit is borne on spurs on
the sides of these branches, while the woody growth is made by the
leaders appearing at the ends of these branches. These leaders are
annually cut back and the constant formation of fruit spurs is
encouraged by pinching whatever shoots are on the sides of the main
stems.
It will be seen that the whole business of pruning falls into two
general categories, viz., winter pruning and summer pruning. The winter
or spring pruning is given any time after the stress of winter is over
and before the sap starts running in the spring. This is the time when
the ordinary fruit trees are customarily pruned. The work at this season
consists chiefly in cutting back leaders. These are pruned off short,
that is the whole stem is taken off down to within two or three buds of
where it started growth the previous year. In some cases it is worth
while to cut even further back, going into wood two or three years old.
At this spring pruning the defective or diseased branches are of course
removed wherever they are found. Cases requiring such treatment always
occur even on the best trained cordons and espaliers. Whenever it
becomes necessary an entire branch, sometimes composing half the tree,
is taken out. Usually such branches can be replaced without great loss
of time.
[Illustration: FIG. 27--HORIZONTAL CORDON APPLE TREES]
After this winter or spring pruning comes the summer pruning which has
been outlined above. This usually begins May 15-25, and continues until
July 25-31, differing, of course, in different latitudes.
Practically all varieties of apples can be grown as dwarfs, though some
succeed on Paradise roots better than others. Some varieties also are
better adapted for special forms, as for cordons, than are others. Such
requirements are not very strict, and a careful gardener can grow
practically anything he wants to. Patrick Barry, in his "Fruit Garden,"
recommends "twenty very large and beautiful sorts for dwarfs," having in
mind American conditions, and especially his own experience in
Rochester, N. Y. His list is as follows:
Red Astrachan
Large Sweet Bough
Primate
Beauty of Kent
Alexander
Duchess of Oldenburg
Fall Pippin
Williams' Favorite
Gravenstein
Hawthornden
Maiden's Blush
Porter
Menagere
Red Bietigheimer
Bailey Sweet
Canada Reinette
Northern Spy
Mother
King of Tompkins County
Twenty Ounce
Wagener
In Europe, where greater attention has been paid to these matters, the
opinion has settled down to a comparatively limited number. For example,
Mr. George Bunyard in "The Fruit Garden" recommends the following
varieties for cordons:
Mr. Gladstone Aug.
Devonshire Quarrenden Aug.
James Grieve Sept.
Wealthy Oct.
Margil Oct.
King of Pippins Oct.
Mother Oct.
Calville Rouge Precoce Oct.
Cox's Orange Pippin Oct., Feb.
St. Edmund's Pippin Nov.
Ross Nonpareil Nov.
Duchess of Oldenburg Aug.
Pott's Seedling Sept.
Lord Grosvenor Sept.
Adams' Pearmain Dec.
Hubbard's Pearmain Dec.
Allington Pippin Nov., Feb.
Scarlet Nonpareil Jan., Feb.
Norman's Pippin Jan.
Lord Burghley Feb.
Duke of Devonshire Feb.
Rosemary Russet Feb.
Sturmer Pippin Very late
Allen's Everlasting Very late
Fearn's Pippin. Very late
Lord Derby Nov.
Bismarck Dec.
Lane's Prince Albert Jan., March
Lord Suffield Sept.
Grenadier Sept., Oct.
Golden Spire Sept., Oct.
Seaton House Sept., Oct.
Sandringham Feb.
Alfriston Feb., March
Calville Malingre Feb. to Mch.
Calville Rouge Feb. to Mch.
The same authority recommends the following varieties to be grown on
Paradise stocks as bushes:
Beauty of Bath July, Aug.
Red Quarrenden July, Aug.
Lady Sudeley Sept.
Worcester Pearmain Sept., Oct.
Yellow Angestrie Sept.
Duchess' Favorite Sept. to Oct.
King of the Pippins Oct.
Early White Transparent J'ly.
Lord Suffield Aug., Sept.
Pott's Seedling Aug., Sept.
Lord Grosvenor Aug., Sept.
Early Julien Aug., Sept.
Ecklinville Seedling Sept., Oct.
Grenadier Sept., Oct.
Stirling Castle Sept., Oct.
Golden Spire Sept., Oct.
Cox's Orange Pippin Nov., Feb.
Beauty of Barnack Nov.
Allington Pippin Dec., Feb.
Gascoigne's Scarlet Dec.
Christmas Pearmain Dec.
Winter Quarrenden Dec.
Baumann's Reinette Jan.
Lord Derby Oct., Nov.
Stone's Apple Oct., Nov.
Tower of Glamis Oct., Nov.
Warner's King Oct., Nov.
Bismarck Oct., Nov.
Lane's Prince Albert Dec., Mch.
Bramley's Seedling Dec., Mch.
Newton Wonder Dec., Mch.
Max Loebener in his book on dwarf fruits recommends the following
varieties for dwarf apples:
Red Astrachan July, Aug.
Yellow Transparent Aug., Sept.
Charlamowsky Aug., Sept.
Transparent de Croncels Sept., Oct.
Prince Apple Sept., Jan.
Danzig Oct., Dec.
Dean's Codlin Oct. to Feb.
Landbury Reinette Nov., Feb.
Cox's Orange Nov. to Mch.
_Requires good soil_
Winter Gold Pearmain Nov., March
Ribston Pippin Nov., April
_Good warm soil_
Canada Reinette. Nov., April
_Hardy_
Belle de Boskoop Nov., May
Virginia Rose Aug.
Red Peach Summer Apple Aug., Sept.
Lord Suffield Aug., Oct.
Cellini Sept., Nov.
Alexander Oct., Dec.
Gravenstein Oct. to Jan.
_For moist soils, bears late_
Yellow Richard Nov., Dec.
Bismarck Nov., Feb.
Yellow Bellflower Nov. to April
_Requires good position_
Baumann's Reinette Dec., May
Inasmuch as the advantages of the dwarf trees apply especially to the
growing of fine fruit, only the better varieties should generally be
propagated in this way. On this basis, therefore, rather than on the
basis of adaptation learned from experience, the following varieties may
be suggested among the well known American sorts for growing in dwarf
form:
Baldwin
Esopus
Mother
Williams' Favorite
Sutton
King
Northern Spy
Grimes
Winesap
Yellow Transparent
McIntosh
Red Astrachan
Alexander
Wolf River
Ribston Pippin
Wealthy
Wagener
Of course, one propagating dwarf apples would always select his own
favorites. It should be noticed that in the list given above are some
varieties which are notable for beauty of appearance rather than for
superior quality. They are recommended on the former consideration.
Certain varieties in the list, for instance Alexander, are known to
succeed especially well as dwarfs.
VIII
DWARF PEARS
Pears are the fruit most largely grown in dwarf form in America. There
are a few well established and successful commercial orchards of pears,
especially in western New York and Michigan. The pear is the fruit most
assiduously cultivated in dwarf and trained forms in Europe. At the same
time it is the one with which I confess I have had the least
satisfaction. This is perhaps because I have always experimented in a
country where pears do not naturally succeed, and because, further, my
fancies have run more to other kinds of fruit.
[Illustration: FIG. 28--YOUNG ORCHARD OF DWARF PEARS IN WESTERN NEW
YORK]
It is probably true that the pear is improved more in quality than any
other fruit by being grown in dwarf form and trained as cordons and
espaliers on a suitable frame or wall. This is emphatically true in cold
and inclement climates, where indeed some of the best varieties of
pears will not succeed at all unless given this advantage. A west wall
is recommended as giving the very finest results. It should be noted,
however, that some varieties do better on walls than others. Those which
grow vigorously in bush, pyramid, or standard forms receive
comparatively less benefit from wall training.
[Illustration: FIG. 29--DWARF PEARS IN THE OLD AND PROFITABLE YEOMANS
ORCHARD, NEW YORK]
The pear is the best of all trees for training in pyramid form.
Sometimes very tall slim pyramids are made, becoming almost pillars of
foliage and fruit in their old age. These may be in fact upright cordons
which are trained with strong stems and allowed to support themselves
without a trellis. Some of the less upright growing varieties are
difficult to form into pyramids, and such may be pruned in the ordinary
bush or vase form. In growing dwarf pears commercially, as is sometimes
done, it is probably best to give most varieties the bush form. The
pyramid is rather harder to maintain.
The pear succeeds well as a cordon tree. Perhaps the best form is the
oblique cordon, one placed at an angle of about forty-five degrees with
the horizon. The upright and horizontal cordons may also be used, though
neither of these forms is specially well adapted to pears.
All of the better types of espaliers are suited to pear trees. Probably
the Palmette-Verrier is the best, although the old fashioned espaliers
are often used. The U-form and the double U-form also succeed if well
built.
The pruning of the pear tree is substantially the same as that of the
apple. Where pear blight is a factor in the problem, due allowance must
be made for it. It sometimes happens that entire branches or arms have
to be cut away on account of blighting. The system of pruning therefore
should furnish a means of renewing such members promptly when necessity
requires.
[Illustration: FIG. 30--ORCHARD OF DWARF DUCHESS PEARS, LOCKPORT, N. Y.]
The quince root prefers a fairly heavy and even moist soil. A heavy clay
loam is best, although a strong clay will answer. Light sandy soils or
loose gravelly soils will not give such good results. On the other hand
any clay soil which holds water to a considerable extent will answer. As
these are the requirements for quince roots, they become also the
requirements for dwarf pears. Any attempt to grow dwarf pears on a light
loose soil is almost certain to prove a failure.
[Illustration: FIG. 31--PYRAMID PEARS IN A GERMAN ORCHARD]
It is often said that dwarf pears should be planted deep in the ground
when they are set out. The rule is to put them deep enough so that the
bud union will be buried beneath the surface of the soil. With such
treatment the pear itself often throws out roots and eventually
establishes a feeding system of its own, becoming independent of the
quince stock. It is then no longer a dwarf tree except by the authority
of the pruning knife. It is probably true that many varieties of dwarf
pears are longer lived when treated in this way. In planting, therefore,
it becomes a question whether one desires chiefly a long-lived tree or a
strictly dwarf one. The ease with which dwarf trees are replaced makes
longevity a less important factor than in commercial orchards of
standard trees.
Of course, it is understood that if the dwarfest form is to be
maintained, the tree must be planted high enough to leave the union out
of the ground, thus preventing the pear from throwing out roots of its
own.
The varieties principally grown in this country as dwarfs are Angouleme,
Bartlett, Anjou, and Louise Bonne.
In European nurseries the list of pears propagated on quince roots is
much larger. The following varieties are recommended for England by Mr.
Owen Thomas, and are said to be particularly good for training on walls:
Buerre Giffard
Clapp's Favorite
Jargonelle
Williams' (Bartlett)
Buerre d'Amanlis
Fondante d'Automne
Triomphe de Vienne
Buerre Bosc
Buerre Hardy
Buerre Brown
Comte de Lamy
Louise Bonne de Jersey
Pitmaston Duchess
La France
Buerre d'Anjou
Buerre de Jonghe
Doyenne d'Alencon
Glou Morceau
Marie Benoist
Winter Nelis
Buerre Diel
Nouvelle Fulvie
Buerre Sterckmans
Easter Buerre
Le Lectier
Olivier de Serres
Seckel
Conference
Doyenne du Comice
Marie Louise
Thompson's
Duchesse d'Angouleme
Passe Crassane
Ne Plus Meuris
Bergamotte Esperen
Buerre Rance
Josephine de Malines
IX
DWARF PEACHES
The peach as a dwarf tree is almost unknown in America. It is not very
often grown as a dwarf even in Europe, except when it is trained on
walls or grown in houses. The species, however, is easily dwarfed and
makes a good tree in various forms when well propagated. The methods by
which dwarf peaches are propagated are fully described in the chapter
devoted to that subject.
Peach trees growing on plum stocks and formed in vases or bushes make
excellent garden trees. Naturally they should be headed low, best within
three to six inches of the ground. They then make fine, regular, well
balanced tops which are easily kept opened out in the desired vase form.
Such trees usually come into bearing one or two years earlier than those
propagated and trained in the usual way. In a country like New England
where peach growing is largely a system of gambling against cold
weather, and where the business largely resolves itself into a race for
getting a crop before the trees freeze back, the smaller stature and the
earlier bearing of the dwarf tree are obvious advantages. It has not yet
been shown that this may be turned to account on a commercial scale, but
there seem to be possibilities in it. In case the peach grower
undertakes the method of laying down his peach trees and covering them
during the winter to save them from freezing, the smaller growth of the
dwarf trees would prove a decided advantage. This method of handling
peach trees has proved a practical success under certain conditions.
[Illustration: FIG. 32--DWARF PEACH IN NURSERY
Headed back and formed into bushes]
The peach does not succeed as a cordon. The nearest that this form can
be successfully approached is the U-form. The double U-form is probably
even better. The fan form of training is the best of all methods of
training for the peach. The tree makes wood so rapidly that considerable
space has to be provided for the annual growth. The fan form being less
definite in its makeup can be more readily adapted to the exigencies of
rapid growth and severe cutting out.
[Illustration: FIG. 33--ESPALIER PEACH, HARTFORD, CONN.]
On account of its more vigorous growth the peach demands even more
drastic pruning than that already described for apples and pears. The
method of managing a peach tree, however, differs in some details. There
is not such a distinct establishment of leaders at the end of the shoot;
and since the peach never forms fruit spurs like those of the apple, the
pruning of the fruit-bearing wood is necessarily different. The best
fruit buds are formed on the strong clean shoots of the current season's
growth. These must be allowed to grow far enough and vigorously enough
to ripen good fruit buds. If they make too much growth, however, the
side buds start secondary branches and the fruiting prospects are
reduced. The management of the tree must be such as to keep this growth
of new wood in just the proper balance.
In order to carry out the idea thus outlined, an early spring pruning is
given while the trees are dormant, and several successive prunings are
administered during the growing season. At the spring pruning a
considerable amount of wood is cut out from all portions of the tree,
the amount thus removed being much greater than that from the pear or
apple trees at the same season. The old decrepit and diseased branches
are taken first for removal, and then one year old wood is cut back
where necessary, so as to leave two or three buds at the base of each
branch.
The first summer pruning is given about May 15th to 20th, after the
growth has well begun. A vigorous tree will start more shoots than there
is room for, and these are thinned out until all have sufficient space.
A few of the most vigorous ones are pinched back at this time. One week
to ten days later the trees are gone over again, at which time the
principal pinching back is done. The shoots which are making too much
growth, especially on the interior of the tree or on the main arms, are
stopped. A third pruning is given about June first, and consists chiefly
in removing weak shoots or those which are crowding one another, and
cutting back those which are growing too far.
[Illustration: FIG. 34--PEACH IN FAN ESPALIER ON WALL, ENGLAND]
The peach usually requires a comparatively light soil and a warm
exposure. The plum root upon which a dwarf peach is budded will usually
succeed in a considerably heavier soil, and the method of budding on
plum is therefore sometimes practised with the specific object of
adapting the peach tree to heavier soils. Inasmuch as various kinds of
plums succeed in all soils on which any crop can be grown, from light
sand to heavy clay, it is not difficult to meet any reasonable
requirements in this respect.
All varieties of peaches and nectarines seem to succeed equally well as
dwarfs. Those varieties which are grown as dwarfs in Europe are
naturally the ones which are favorites there. In this country the
favorite varieties are almost altogether different and we would expect
to choose such sorts as Late Crawford, Foster, Old Mixon, Belle of
Georgia, Champion, Waddell, and other choice American varieties for our
use.
[Illustration: FIG. 35--PEACH TREES TRAINED UNDER GLASS]
The nectarine is in large favor in Europe and is much more extensively
grown than in America. The merits of this fruit seem to have been
strangely overlooked in this country. When nectarines are properly
grown under glass, they are one of the most delicious and beautiful
fruits known in this world of limitations and disappointments. The
nectarine is a fruit which will in general bear more extensive
cultivation in America and which is to be especially recommended for
dwarf fruit gardens. This is not to say that it should supersede the
peach, or even that it should take equal prominence, but simply that it
should be well represented in every selection of fruits for an amateur's
collection.
X
DWARF PLUMS
Most amateur and professional fruit growers are less interested in plums
than in other tree fruits. Perhaps I am prejudiced, but I feel that this
is not fair to the plum. Plums yield some profit when rightly cultivated
commercially, and no end of satisfaction when cultivated for the
gardener's own entertainment. The large assortment of varieties which
one may secure is in itself a claim to interest, and a source of much
delight to the collector. The fact that different types of plums furnish
fruit of very diverse characters makes the collection more valuable from
every standpoint. So far as the writer knows dwarf plums have seldom
been grown to any extent in America. They certainly have no present
claim based on experience for recognition in commercial orchards.
Nevertheless they have possibilities even for the growing of market
fruit, and for cultivation in the garden, dwarf trees are altogether
worth while.
In the chapter on propagation, reference has been made to the stocks
used for plums and that subject need not be discussed here.
[Illustration: FIG. 36--PLUM TREES TRAINED AS UPRIGHT CORDONS]
When plum trees have been secured budded on suitable dwarfing stocks,
as, for example, Americana or sand cherry, they may be trained in a
variety of ways. Probably the ordinary bush form is the best. Most
varieties of plums do not form either a satisfactory pyramid or a
strictly vase form. Some of the better growing Japanese varieties of
plums approach the latter form fairly well. Red June, Satsuma, and
Chabot may be mentioned as particular examples. With such varieties a
true vase form can be maintained as well as with peaches. In dealing
with a majority of varieties, however, a simple bush-like head without a
mathematically constructed frame work is about the best that can be
secured. In most cases the head should be formed low, preferably not
more than six inches from the ground. Still considerable latitude has to
be allowed the gardener's fancy in dealing with dwarf trees, and the
writer can easily imagine a garden design which would require trees to
be high headed. It would be practicable and excusable in some cases to
form heads four, five, or even six feet from the ground. This is often
done in England and Germany with all sorts of fruit trees, this form
being referred to as a "standard."
A head can be secured at almost any point on a plum tree of good growth,
by heading back at the desired height. Four to six branches should be
allowed to grow the first year and in course of time these will be
increased to eight, twelve, or even more. That is, there will be this
number of what we might call main branches because they are all of
approximately equal importance.
At the end of the first year after the tree has been headed back the
main branches, which have now formed, are to be cut back in turn. With
all strong-growing varieties it is best to remove from one-half to
two-thirds of the annual growth from these main branches, if the tree
is to be restricted to a comparatively narrow spread. A considerable
number of strong shoots will put forth the next year. These should be
thinned out as soon as they start to a number approximately twice that
of the main arms. These new branches should be distributed as
symmetrically as possible. The tree top is now formed and subsequent
pruning consists essentially of a severe heading in during the latter
part of the dormant season, that is, about March, followed by two,
three, or four summer prunings somewhat after the manner described for
the peach. At the time of these summer prunings the young growing shoots
should be thinned out enough to prevent any choking of the tree top and
should be headed in wherever it is necessary to retain the symmetrical
growth.